Barcode Scanner Keyboard
Jennifer Downey
I realize there are plenty of barcode scanning apps and bluetooth scanners, but I am wondering if the following exists for iOS. Let's say I'm completing a plain ol' form on a website. Normally when I tap on an input the keyboard will appear like this:
However, needing a barcode scanner, I thought it would be useful if you could tap the "change keyboard" button and have "Scanner" be one of the options listed along with English (US), Emoji, etc. This would pull up an interface something like the following:
Has anyone seen anything like this or know if it's possible create this functionality? Or is there a better implementation? Basically, I don't want another piece of hardware, and I want this scanner to be available to any app (such as a browser).
If you build the form using views instead, you can get pretty close with some work. What you can do is use set the inputAccessoryView of your text fields to a toolbar that has a button for switching to/from the bar code reader. When the user turns on the bar code reader, set the text field's inputView to your bar code reader view. When the user turns off the bar code reader, set the inputView back to nil.
You might be able to make that work for text fields in a UIWebView too, by digging around in the web view's private view hierarchy and whatnot, but you will definitely be relying on implementation details that can change in every release.
This soft-keyboard for Android is a real time-saver! Besides manual typing, this keyboard scans barcodes, texts (OCR) and NFC tags directly into any app. The integrated scanners are invoked with a single tap, the scanned data appears immediately in the target app as manually typed by the user. This works perfectly without modifying existing apps; app-switching or copy/paste is no longer required.
Choose between two integrated barcode scanner engines: The Traditional Barcode Scanner, known from previous versions, is ideal for older phone models, the newly introduced Advanced Barcode Scanner provides additional features.
The integrated Text Scanner converts camera images to text within seconds and makes typewriting obsolete. Latin-based text in pictures of arbitrary documents is detected automatically and inserted into the target app.
Scanner Keyboard is available for Android 4.4 (KitKat) and higher. The Advanced Barcode Scanner and the Text Scanner are supported from Android 5.0 (Lollipop) onward and requires installed Google Play services. Xiaomi users may need extra permissions.
For users with volume license requirements for 25 or more devices, TEC-IT offers a bulk-license version of the app. The version available for download on this website is suitable for bulk-licensing and can be activated with activation keys provided by TEC-IT (Internet access is required once for activation).
Our company offers standard software like TFORMer, TBarCode and Barcode Studio. The data acquisition tools TWedge and Scan-IT to Office, an Android/iOS app for mobile data collection, complete our portfolio. Custom solutions are available on request.
Is it possible to have the barcode scanner (zxing for example) called instead of the keyboard in a webview? So, just to be clear, when I tap in a text box inside my webview I'd like to override the keyboard call and have the barcode scanner open instead as an input to the text field. Is this feasible?
Not in any kind of standard fashion: you could plug a custom JavaScript handler that listened for focus messages from the specific text input (identified perhaps by id?) and then use the InputMethodManager to hide the input method and launch your barcode reader. When the barcode reader returns with content you could then use the same JavaScript handler to insert the result into the text input field.
This isn't exactly what you are asking for but might work: You could modify the ZXing bar code scanning library to dispatch key events for each character in the scanned bar code. I assume these key events would be interpreted by the text field. You can program the bar code scanner to append a carriage return or whatever to accept the data into the text field as if someone had hit the enter key. You could put a border around your layout and turn it red or something to indicate to the user that it will accept typed in data or a bar code scan.
It is not possible -- at least, there's nothing in Android or ZXing that lets you do this directly. But you can certainly write your own Input Method that does such a thing, if you're willing to put in the work. ZXing is open source and there have been some topics about it in the discussion group.
I've worked with a variety of barcode scanners on many computer types. On the Mac, you scan a barcode when you see the Keyboard setup assistant asking to press the key to the right of Shift. You then typically want to select a US Keyboard. Then it should just work. Most barcode scanners come with a configuration book full of barcodes where you scan the codes in the book to program the behavior of the barcode scanner. It will beep after scanning each configuration barcode and won't really do anything except change that setting internally. You should test that your chosen options are working.
It doesn't matter what code you scan and you don't need to scan key codes to simulate pressing z to the right of the left Shift key. Scanning any code should move to the next step when you need to select a US keyboard.
If you're still encountering any issues after confirming that your barcode scanner is supported and troubleshooting, please let us know the make/model of your scanner and provide a bit more information on what leads up to the inability to use your keyboard.
@webmaster - Bluetooth barcode scanners on Android devices are definitely something on our radar. While I can't speak specifically to a timeline or the technical barriers, we hear you! I'll be sure to share your feedback with our product liaison team too!
Unfortunately I have a Tab 4 which according to your website does not support that function. It's also the same tablet you were selling before you switched to the Tab A. It's very irritating how much you do for apple products vs android.
We are having the same issue. We are using a Galaxy Tab A and a Symbol LS2208 scanner. The scanner is plugged into a powered hub which is connected to an OTG adaptor. The Tab A's "online" keyboard does not work if the scanner is plugged in, so if someone offers change other than the suggested amounts, we are having to unplug the OTG adapter, enter the amount, then plug in the adaptor again.
They're not going to do anything about it, they have proven my point about doing the bare minimum for android users. They want appel to have exclusive rights to things evidently. It's a shame honestly.
I have an application that uses a barcode reader to enter part numbers. I have been asked by manglement if I can lock-out the keyboard to prevent the users from typing in the part numbers (too prone to error in typing). As the barcode reader is a separate USB port from the keyboard, is there a way to identify the keyboard port and disable it programmatically?
Most bar code readers set them self up as a key board wedge at the operating system level. LabVIEW can not select between the key board or the bar code reader. To LabVIEW they seem to be the same input device.
Since your barcode reader is USB, you may have the ability to set it up as a COM port. Several USB readers will either behave as a keyboard or a COM port. You would then have to modify your software to look at the COM Port. You can change the control to an indicator and the user will not be able to do anything.
The other option, which is what I typically do, is to add prefix and suffix characters to the barcode scanner. I pick a prefix that corresponds to a LabVIEW Key Navigation settign to set focus to the control. This way, whenever the barcode scanner scans, the control is automatically highlighted and the barcode fills end. I usually use a suffix of the ENTER key so the data is entered.
This way, you can hide your control off-screen so users cannot see it. Use an indicator on-screen. You can even set the off-screen control to be skipped while tabbing. The other nice thing with the prefix is I can simulate the barcode with the keyboard by using the special key navigation sequence. This is not 100% tamper-proof, but most operators aren't going to know what you are doing to skip the barcode reader unless you show them.
Hi I want to intergrate a Handheld scanner in Ignition Perspective V8.1.25. I know that we can use the camera option from Ignition mobile by using the Barcode feature in events. But I want to use a handheld barcode scanner. I someone worked on it, can you guys help me out?
We use CipherLabs RS35 handheld barcode scanners which comes with pre-loaded software to manage the built-in barcode scanning engine. Using that, you setup the scanner to output the scan as key events and use the Perspective barcode scanner input component using either a regex or prefix/suffix combination to capture scans.
On the RS35, the app is called ReaderConfig (which is specific to the RS35, not any handheld) where you select a Configuration, multiple configs can be saved, but I just use the Default profile it comes with. Select the Default profile then select Scanner Preferences then Data Output then set the default mode to KeyEvent. Inside this configuration you can add prefix and suffix characters, enable/disable barcode types, etc.